It had actually started when I saw a packet of proper frankfurters at my local Spar. As I often do, I googled, in this instance frankfurter recipes. And what should pop up but recipes for hotdog pasta. 🙈

Yes, you read that correctly. Hotdog pasta. 🙈🙈🙈 

And no, I did not immediately drop the pack of franks and buy viennas. That being what a South African would put in a hotdog. Instead, I popped the franks into my trolley, and scrolled further down on my phone. And there it was: frankfurter pasta. Further investigation showed that slicing franks into slim rounds and tossing them in a sauce with plenty of tomato, onion and even cream, was A Thing.

The thing is, I’m not so sceptical that I don’t like to try something new. At any rate, it was only meant to be for a quick family supper, it didn’t necessarily have to be a recipe.

I wrote down a recipe right then and there, because that’s what people like me do in supermarkets, whether or not they’re going to publish it (and in doctors’ waiting rooms on their phones), then glanced up and my eye fell on packets of bacon. Frankfurters, bacon, tomatoes, cream: why not? It’s thrifty January after all.

I bought some fresh cream, a can of chopped Italian tomatoes and some penne pasta tubes and hot-footed it home. The sauce would be finished with melting Cheddar cheese, I decided, and it needed a bit of a chilli hit too. In for a penny and all.

And who knew: it makes a great sauce, and the fact that there are lovely little rounds of frankfurter in there means there are nice chunky bits to get your teeth onto along with the penne. And small pasta needs something to chew alongside it.

To my astonishment, I was so pleased with the outcome that I decided it needed to be shared with you all. So here it is.

(Serves 2 to 4)

Ingredients

4 frankfurters, sliced thinly

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Olive oil

1 tsp dried oregano

2 rashers of back bacon, diced

1 x 400 g can chopped tomatoes

2 red chillies, finely chopped

2 Tbsp tomato purée

200 ml fresh cream

Salt and black pepper

250 g penne

1 ladle of pasta water

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Method

Put a big pasta pot on a high heat with plenty of cold water, lightly salted. Have half a packet of penne or similar small pasta to hand. (Standard pasta packets are generally 500 g.)

Cook the diced bacon in a pan either dry (if it’s nice fatty bacon which will release its own fats into the pan) or with a hint of oil or butter.

Add sliced onions and garlic. Stir while it softens, then add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, chillies and dried oregano. Season with salt and black pepper. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for about five minutes.

Add the cream and return to a simmer. Let it cook very gently until the cream bubbles away pleasantly and the sauce enriches.

Add a ladle of pasta water to the sauce, then drain the pasta.

Add the little slices of frankfurter and stir them in.

Add the sauce back to the drained pasta in the pot. While the pasta and sauce are still hot, stir in grated Cheddar, and serve. DM

Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Writer 2023, jointly with TGIFood columnist Anna Trapido. Order his book, foodSTUFF, here

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.

This dish is photographed on a plate by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.